High up on the Cornish clifftops, Penhale Camp was once a hub of military activity.

Up to 700 soldiers returning from war would go to train and recuperate from another gruelling tour.

Closed off to the public by a two-metre high metal security fence topped by razor wire, the 97 buildings on the 16 hectare site have stood derelict for seven years.

The camp, near Holywell Bay about six miles outside of Newquay , was originally developed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 1939 as an emergency measure to train anti-aircraft gunners.

Evidence of the gun sites, searchlight batteries and defensive positions, such as pillboxes and trenches, still remain today reports Cornwall Live.

A view of the site from Holywell village

The majority of the site is currently occupied by abandoned Nissen huts, simple pitched roof concrete block-built huts, workshops, ancillary buildings, a farmhouse and areas of hard-standing.

During the Second World War on July 7, 1940, only months after the site opened, 23 servicemen recuperating at Penhale following the Dunkirk evacuation were killed when the camp was bombed by the German Luftwaffe.

It was a sunny, pleasant afternoon that day, and soldiers who had just escaped from one of the most hellish experiences of the early war years were relaxing.

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The Cornish coast on that day must have seemed a world away from what those men had seen just weeks before.

They had been among more than 300,000 troops evacuated from Dunkirk in a fleet of naval ships, lifeboats, fishing vessels and even pleasure craft.

In one of the great escapes, which changed the destiny of the war, they were plucked from the French and Belgian beaches as German fighters strafed them from the skies and guns blasted from the beaches.

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As those soldiers relaxed in the Cornish sunshine after their Sunday lunch, they must have felt that in comparison this was peace on earth but that was soon to change, as Cornwall received its first taste of the horrors of the war.

A single German aircraft flew over Penhale Camp, probably looking for the nearby St Eval airfield, and dropped four high explosive bombs.

Fifteen soldiers were killed instantly, a further eight died from their injuries, and many more were seriously wounded.

American Army combat engineers built the 14 Nissen huts on the site

Penhale Camp

Three years later, the camp was occupied by American Army combat engineers as part of the build up to the D-Day landings. They built the 14 Nissen huts on the site.

For the majority of the next 70 years, Penhale was used intensively for 24 hours a day by up to 700 people at any one time, most recently for soldiers returning from Afghanistan for training and recuperation.

The end of an era came in 2010, when, after seven decades of MoD occupation, Penhale became surplus to requirements.

Penhale is closed off to the public by a two-metre high metal security fence topped by razor wire

Penhale is closed off to the public

Defence chiefs decided to sell off 40 acres of the site, which were snapped up by Cotswold-based developer Comparo Limited at auction for £750,000.

Comparo plans to tear down the buildings and replace them with 132 homes, four business units and 12.5 acres of recreational open space, and also convert the farmhouse into two dwellings.

The developer, which has been waiting on planning permission since 2015, is also seeking the go ahead to build a larger building for business use at a later date.

The Penhale site is located high up on the Cornish clifftops (Image: Comparo)

Penhale Camp

The contentious plans took a significant step forward after being recommended for approval.

Cornwall Council’s strategic planning committee will make a final decision on the application at a meeting on Thursday (September 28).